Saving a Damaged Heart
by CobaltCereberus
Summary: Fiona Fox and Shadow the Hedgehog have the two most damaged hearts of all. After a life of betrayal and the losing of a loved one, these two need as much help as they can get to find the love and happiness they are after. Perhaps, they will both manage to create a new life for both of them to share... FionaxShadow might be hinted, but mostly its just friendship.
1. Chapter 1

** Hiya all the peeps who decided to read this! First of all, I want you all to know that I deleted Internal Conflict. If you are wondering why, it is because I lost interest. While I was typing Chapter 3, I was just so uninterested and I really didn't like where the story was going. Also, I read through the first two chapters, and I really didn't like them at all. I was embarrassed to have my name on them. I'm sorry to all of you who were reading it! I am really sorry! I hope you can forgive me!**

**Now to this story. This is my second story, so I am still a new writer! Please give me plenty on tips and advice that I can use to improve my writing! I won't get better unless some more experienced writers out there tell me how to. I won't be upset if you criticize my story, that's what I want to do! Anyways, I know this part is all about Fiona, but I promise I'll type a whole part about Shadow next chapter. Which leads me to my next question…**

**PLEASE LET ME NOW IF YOU WANT MORE CHAPTERS! I don't want to write a story that no one wants, so let me know if anyone out there if interested! Thank you! Cobalt Woof!**

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Dark, rainy, and gloomy. Those are the conditions you would expect such a day to have. A day where you felt lower than dirt. The day you wanted to just shut everything out and be alone. A day where nothing could _possibly _make the day any worse than it already is. Dark, rainy, and gloomy.

That was the day Fiona Fox was having.

Though, instead of rain, the weather was quite clear and even a bit sunny. Probably the sunniest day Mobius has had in weeks.

Fiona did feel sunny, though. Fiona may not be known for her positive outlook on life or her optimistic personality, but today she felt even worse than usual. She had been feeling, as some would say, "down in the dumps" for a long time now. And I mean a _long _time.

This brown-haired fox has had quite the rough past. Fiona never felt like she belonged anywhere. She was always betrayed. Always stabbed in the back. It seemed like nobody would ever give this fox a fair chance.

Fair. What an interesting word to use. Was anything really _"fair"_ in life? Could one possible use the word fair and fully understand what an impossibility the idea of fairness is? Fairness didn't exist. Not in Fiona's eyes, at least. She had been out casted too many times to believe in such a ridiculous word. Her parents didn't want her, she was only worth a robot copy to Robotnik, Sonic couldn't have the decency to save her from her imprisonment, she never truly felt at home with the Freedom Fighters and she knew Sally saw her as a low-life dirt bag, and now the members of Scourge's little gang didn't find her worth their time much either.

Giving a small sigh, Fiona continued on her way through the forest. She had no idea on where she was, and she didn't really care. There were bigger things on her mind than her location, anyways.

She had just left her Moebius life behind her this morning. Not bothering to say goodbye or anything, she just left. If Scourge didn't want to waste his time for her, then she didn't need put her time in for him. It's not like any of the people of Moebius were friends with her, anyways. Fiona has never had a true friend before, and she knew that she didn't need any. "Friendship" was like "fairness", people may preach about it all the time, but it doesn't really exist. It's only an idea for fairy tales and garbage like that. But, it was never something that you could find in the real world. Never. No matter how hard you tired. Fiona learned that the hard way. Multiple times.

Kicking a small rock that was in her path, Fiona continued on here aimless journey deeper into the forest. The trees began to thicken and the pathway she was walking on narrowed until it faded into none existence. Still trudging on, the friendless fox made her way over to a puddle that was near the base of a tree. Looking upwards, all Fiona could see was leaves and branches. She wondered how any water managed to slip down to the forest floor, especially enough water to make a puddle this size.

Turning her attention back to the puddle, Fiona saw her own sad face looking back at her. Her slick red fur that made its way all over her body, and her three brown bangs that curved over the front of her face, nearly covering one of her icy blue eyes. The black, two-piece clothing she wore, fully decorated with silver belts and fingerless gloves, and the yellow bow in her hair that held back the rest of her brown hair back and pushed it behind her head. The fox had to admit, she wasn't that bad looking. Actually, she thought of herself as being quite pretty.

Not only was she a pretty-face, though, she had skill too. She was capable of kicking anybody's butt if she set her mind to it. Fiona actually has beaten up a couple of punks who got in her way before. She also had quite the personality. Sure, she seems heartless and cruel by the way she acts, but, if anyone really took the chance to know her, they would see that there was more to this fox than a sassy attitude. Fiona actually had the courage to consider herself as being kind of caring at times. Even if she didn't show that caring side often, it was still there. Overall, Fiona considered herself to be a very special girl. This made it even harder for her to wrap her mind around the idea of nobody actually being there for her. What more does she have to be to get somebody to listen to her and just love her for a change?

Love. It wasn't like friendship and fairness. Fiona knew that love was real. She may have never been loved in the way she should be loved, but she knew love was out there. Love was actually the one thing that Fiona wanted more than anything else. She has tried many times to find it, and to make a relationship work. She tried with Tails for a little bit, but the kid was too young for her. Plus, the two-tailed kid was more focused on finding the good in her and making her an official Freedom Fighter than loving her the way she was. Then there was Sonic, but the blue guy ended up being a bit too hung over on her past for her liking and didn't pay attention to her now. Anyways, Sonic was always trying to be the big hero and being the greatest, so he hardly gave Fiona the attention she was after in a relationship. Next was Scrouge, the biggest bad boy of them all. Not only did Scrouge treat her like dirt and ignore her needs, he also was self-centered. He always tried to fit Fiona into his goals and use her to create his dream into a reality. It was never about Fiona and his' relationship, it was just about him. Basically, Fiona wasn't a fox that had luck with love. Sometimes she doubted that she will ever find a lover for her to be happy with.

With another sigh and swoosh of her tail, the red-furred fox turned herself around and marched away from the puddle. She has had enough of her own depressing past. She wanted to change her life. She wanted something good to happen to her for once. She wanted to belong somewhere and to be loved. As cheesy as it sounds, that was her dream. And it was a dream that she was going to make a reality. If only she knew how…

Without even realizing it, Fiona had walked herself into the densest part of the whole forest. The trees were so close together now that you could barely tell the difference between one tree to the next. All the brown stumps and green leaves seemed to blend together. It was like the world was merging before your very eyes. It was getting harder for Fiona to stay true to the path that she was walking. With so many trees in her way, she felt like a mouse in a maze. Scurrying to the left of this tree-wall, scurrying along the right of this one, desperately searching for an escape to the compact tree maze.

"This is why I hate forest," Fiona grumbled under her breath as she slipped between a gap in between two trees that allowed her just enough room to breathe.

"If I don't get out of this forest soon," Fiona continued to grumble and she squeezed through another pair of trees, "I'm going to lose it and chop all these blasted trees down…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiya all the peeps who decided to read this! So, here is Chapter 2 of Saving a Damaged Heart. I haven't really reached the story plot yet... These first two chapters were more of "set up" chapters that introduced the character's past. Don't worry, Chapter 3 will have the stuff you really want to read in it! If you want me to create a Chapter 3 that is...**

**Anyways, I still want all the tips and advice about writing you can give me! So, please, keep them coming!**

**NOTE: I do understand that this chapter is a tab bit more... well it isn't as good as the first chapter (at least, to me it isn't). I didn't take as much time on this one for some reason. I might go back and edit it later, but I think it's good enough now to go on FanFiction. If you don't really like this chapter, just let me know and I'll make sure to retype it. I was kinda planning on doing that anyways... Well, thank you and I hope you have a good time reading my stories! (this is the only story so far...) Cobalt Woof!**

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Shadow enjoyed the feeling of being alone. He always liked to separate himself as much as possible from everyone else. Perhaps that's why he decided upon such a lonely location to rest.

Shadow was sitting among the rocks and boulders that made up a grand mountain of the Mesia Mountains. The Mesia Mountains have a strict reputation of being one of the most isolated areas around. The steep, rocky cliffs along with the sheer height of the monstrous landforms caused this mountain range to be nearly impossible to navigate through. Mostly everybody adventured around the mountains and rarely did anyone dare to attempt the harsh journey of wandering through the wicked jungle of rocky giants. And those who did accept the challenge had a high risk of death or injury due to sudden avalanches and the variety of vicious obstacles that were found throughout the mountains taunting maze.

Shadow, however, made easy work of taming the Mesia Mountains, for he had Chaos on his side. With Shadow's Chaos Control ability, entering and exiting the Mesia Mountains was as simple as saying two words (with the addition of a Chaos Emerald, of course). Also, if Shadow ever ran into trouble with avalanches or such, he had his trusty Chaos Spears that could turn any massive boulder into a pile of tiny pebbles in less than a second. Basically, the Mesia Mountains were a place where only Shadow could go and no one else could, and he took full advantage of that fact.

He mostly used his private mountain range as a training area. Running at full speed while dodging rock obstacles, practice his Chaos Spears on helpless boulders, and working on new fighting techniques in peace. Other times, however, Shadow made his natural shelter his thinking area. A place where the black and red hedgehog could make use of the quiet surroundings and form deep thoughts in his mind.

What he thought about diverse greatly though. The dark Mobian's thought varied from fighting strategies, Chaos Emerald locations, plans he had set out to finish, where he was going to sleep or eat for the day, and he even sometimes thought about the answers to his crossword puzzles that he entertained himself with occasionally. Though, no matter how dissimilar a majority of his thoughts might be, there was always the one lingering thought that always found its way back into his head.

Maria.

Quite the person, Maria was. So kind, so caring, so young, so innocent. She was the greatest person that the human race had to offer. At least, in Shadow's eyes she was. When Shadow spent his days on the Space Colony ARK, Maria was about the only thing he had. His whole world revolved around her. Everything Shadow learned about life and friendship came from her. Even his understanding of Earth mostly came from the little girl.

Maria was like Shadow's connection to the universe. Without her, he was just a wandering soul. Going from place to place, but never really connecting to anything. Maria was more to Shadow than a best friend; she was his "mother" in a way. A person who took care of him in time of need and in time of want.

Sure, there were scientists on the ARK with them. But, none of them were as close to Shadow as Maria was. To every scientist, Shadow was an experiment and a creation of theirs. To Maria, Shadow was a friend and family. Though Shadow did care for everyone on the space colony, Maria was the only one that he had a deeper bond with. A bond that couldn't be broken, not even through death.

Sadly, that claim was put to the test when Shadow had to experience Maria's death. The image of the little, blond girl lying on the ground still haunts Shadow. Memories of the terrible event always came back to him. The fear he felt, the yelling he heard, and the merciless intruders he saw. The same intruders who shot the bullet at Maria, and took away Shadow's connection to the world. All of those terrifying flashbacks tortured the black hedgehog to no end and no matter what Shadow did; they always found their way into his mind and forever troubled him. There was no escaping them.

A bullet is what ended Maria's life, and it was Maria's death that ended Shadow's happiness.

Sure, every now a then a slight smirk can be found on the hedgehog's face. But, that doesn't mean that he is happy. A smile can be easily faked, and so can happiness. After Maria's death, it seemed that all Shadow had left was fake happiness. The days of carefree and happy living faded as fast as the young child did.

To be happy again, that is all Shadow really wants. To feel like he belongs someplace again. To feel the pain the weighs on his shoulders be finally lifted off. That is the single day that Shadow longs for.

A deep sigh escaped the shadowy creature's lips yet again. He adjusted his position so that he was sitting with his legs crossed and was looking up towards the sky. It was so beautiful today. The light blue stretched all the way to the horizon and even farther than that. As far as the eye could see, the mighty blue arms of the sky wrapped itself around all of Mobius and hovered over it like a protective shield.

Shadow starred up into the enormous blue barrier around Mobius and began to search. Somewhere up in that grand sky was the Space Colony ARK. His home and the death place of Maria. Even though it was daytime and it was impossible to see anything out in space, Shadow still found comfort in his search of the sky. Shadow wondered how far away the colony was. He had thought about returning to the colony for a long time, but he knew that wouldn't be quite possible since it was trapped in Earth's atmosphere and he was currently a dimension away on Mobius. Shadow's Chaos Control might be powerful, but he isn't capable of taking him cross dimension when only powered by one emerald. He would need a seven if he even wanted to attempt reaching Earth and the ARK.

Shadow brought his gaze back down to Mobius, ending his thoughts of the space colony and, for a small period of time, his thoughts of Maria. If he focused on his past for too long, he would just make himself more miserable than he already was. Besides, it was time that he returned himself to the life of civilization.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hiya all the peeps who decided to read this! I finally got chapter three up and I hope you all enjoy it! Not much to say about this one besides that this is where the actually story kicks in. Also, I would be happy if you guys began to give me tips! I will read them, I promise! Well, anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the story and if you have any questions or tips for me, just let me know! Hope you enjoy! Cobalt Woof!**

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Back in the depths of the forest, Fiona Fox was continuing her journey through the crowded place. Squeezing her way past two more trees, Fiona sighed with relief to see that the trees were slimming down a bit as she ventured on. As she walked on, she saw that less and less trees were in her way.

"I must be approaching the end of the forest by now," Fiona declared as she stopped to pick several leaves out of her tail. Once she was reassured that her tail was leaf-free, she began to walk once again.

By now, Fiona has been in the forest for quite a long time, perhaps several hours. Being in the forest for so long was starting to cause all the green and brown scenery to get on her nerves. She longed to see something other than dirt, trees, and forest plants. A short while later, Fiona's fox-eyes caught sight of the edge of the tree-prison.

Fiona's walk quickly broke into a sprint. The red fox happily embraced the sun that she could once again feel on her fur. She quickly darted off, leaving the forest maze far behind her.

Once again, Fiona had no idea where she was going. All she knew was that she never wanted to enter a forest like that for years to come. As the distance from the forest increased, Fiona slowed down in pace and began walking again. She was slightly out of breath from the long trip it took her to get here and she began the scan around the area for some water. When no water could be seen, Fiona began to march onwards until she finally came across a stream.

The vixen made her way over to the water source and got down on her knees. She cupped her hands together like a cup and scooped up some water. She quickly sprung her hands up to her face and took a big gulp of the needed liquid. As the cool substance fell down her throat, she felt her strength and breath return to her. After a few more gulps of water, she lifted herself off her knees.

"I never knew water could be so… refreshing," the fox stated to no one in particular. She was very pleased with the new energy that followed the drink of water. She now switched her goals from finding water to finding shelter.

It was getting dark out and Fiona had nowhere to go. She guessed that was that was one of the disadvantages of being friendless; you have no one to lend you their shelter when you're in a condition like this. But, the stubborn vixen was still content on believing that friendship doesn't truly exist and that anyone who goes around trying to find it is wasting their time. She was a strong woman and didn't need some "friend's" help in a situation like this. She was fully capable of finding her own shelter and making a home by herself. What could friends do to help her that she couldn't already handle herself?

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Upon Chaos Controlling back to the outside world, Shadow quickly made his way back home. Shadow's home wasn't the most ideal place of all times, just a worn out building that he happened to come by one day. The old house wasn't much to look at, of course. It actually looked more like a haunted house for little kids to play in rather than a home for someone to live in. Shadow didn't care though. Being such a loner, Shadow actually hoped that the spooky appearance of his house would keep annoying intruders away.

As the shadowy hedgehog approached the home, he made himself aware of all his surroundings. Shadow has lived in this home for over a year now, so he basically knew the whole landscape around the house by memory. Basically, the creepy building was bordered by overgrown grass and dead plants, perhaps with a couple wimpy trees ever here and there. Shadow wasn't much of a gardener, so he didn't really put the time into making his lawn look nice. It's not like he had anyone to impress with his yard anyways since he was the only person who lived in this area. His closest neighbor was probably over three miles away, and the only reason why Shadow lived that close to someone was in case he ever needed to go to someone else's house in an emergency. Not that anything that would be considered an emergency ever happened around here due to the lack of people.

As the red-stripped rodent reached his home, he swiftly opened to door and entered. Shadow didn't have a lock for his home anymore since the old lock fell off months ago due to old age. He almost considered going to the market and purchasing a new lock, but decided that it wasn't worth his time. Who would want to break into a dump like this anyways? Besides, Shadow didn't really own that many things, so it's not like they would have anything to steal.

Upon entering his home, Shadow was welcomed with the foul stench of dead rats and moss-filled cracks in the walls.

"I really need to get my spring cleaning done…" Shadow murmured to himself as he scrunched his nose in disgust. He may be living in an utter pit, but he still had standards.

The chaos-filled being made his way to the closet and pulled out several cleaning supplies he kept stored away in there. Shadow began to sweep up dead rats and bugs, dust off the counters, mop the floors, and then spray Strawberry Blossom Sweet Smell in the air. After Shadow was satisfied with the new cleanness of his home, he sat himself in one of the worn out chairs in what was considered the living room.

You may be wondering why Shadow allowed his house to get so dirty. Well, it's not that Shadow let his house get to the condition it was in willingly, it was just that he was rarely home. Shadow seemed to always be out for one reason or another. Sometimes he went to his hidden area in the Mesia Mountains, other times he went Chaos Emerald hunting, or maybe he would assist the Freedom Fighters in several of their tougher missions. Whatever the reason, though, Shadow was almost never at his home, which allowed the place to fall to the filthy building it became.

Shadow released a deep sigh from his lips. He finished his cleaning duties, and now, he had nothing to do. This was a disadvantage of living alone, he guessed. Perhaps if someone else was here they would be capable of entertaining him or at least they would be able to help him with keeping his house sanitary.

The dark hedgehog rolled his eyes at his own thoughts. He knew why he couldn't live with anyone. He was perfectly aware that he is destined to live forever alone. Though the hedgehog gives of the appearance of being emotionless, this was not true. He did feel emotion, and he felt it a lot. It's just another way that the loss of Maria affected his life. After Maria was gone, Shadow had elected himself to be a loner. Why? Because Shadow knew he couldn't handle an incident like Maria's again. If Shadow were to permit himself to get that close to someone ever again, he would just risk of going through the same pain he felt so long ago again. Friendship was just one of those things that didn't last forever. If Shadow ever tried to make a friend in this world, he knew that it could never last. He knew that all things came to an end. And once his friendship did end, he feared that he would have to go through the same pain as losing Maria all over again. All the tears, all the empty regrets. All of that would come back to the hedgehog once again if he had to lose one more person. Shadow knew that he couldn't handle going through anything like that again, so he isolated himself. No one could hurt him if he never let anyone in.

So, it was true, Shadow actually did want someone to live with him. Someone he could call a friend. But he wasn't willing to pay the price for it. He lost Maria, and he never wanted to lose anyone else.

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Fiona was rushing her way through the grassy field. She had spent the last hour or so looking for shelter, and so far, she has had no luck.

"Come on!" Fiona shouted angrily at no one in particular. "How hard could finding shelter be?!"

The angered vixen began to slow down into a quick jog as her eyes scanned everything within her vision. She is going to find this shelter, and she was going to find it soon. Fiona was losing her patience with nature by now. First she had to go through the forest maze of over-crowdedness and now she had to run through the never-ending field of no shelter?! She let out a loud huff and pushed herself to go faster. Her feet barely touched the ground as she darted across the grass at her full speed. Her eyes were zooming back and forth, spotting out anything that could even be possible related to a shelter of any kind.

Sadly, though, there seemed to be nothing around that could provide the proper sleeping place for her. Fiona's ears slumped down in despair and her tail began to get dragged across the ground as her sprint turned into a slow walk.

"I really don't want to spend another second of my life like this…" Fiona complained as she let a small whimper escape her. Fiona wasn't one to do something as pathetic as whimper; for she believed that she was a strong, independent woman and could do more than sit around and do pathetic things such as whimpering. In this case, however, there was nobody around to see Fiona or hear her pathetic whimpers, so she guessed that it would be okay to let a little pathetic-ness come out.

"I really do need to find someplace to rest soon, it's nearly dark out and I'm exhausted," Fiona said as she stopped walking and sat down to take a breather. Her eyes continued to search around the vacant field for a shelter, but of course, none was found. Her eyes then turned their attention to the sky. It was getting dark and Fiona could already see a crescent moon peeping out over the horizon. If she didn't find a shelter soon, she would have to sleep outside in the darkness.

Thinking that the sleeping-outside idea didn't sound ideal; Fiona lifted herself off the ground and to her feet once again. She began to walk once again, but had little hope of finding anything.

Isn't it weird how you accomplish something the second you give up on accomplishing it?

That's right, Fiona found shelter. After only a minute more of walking, Fiona's eyes caught sight of a house in the distance. Upon seeing the building, Fiona's excitement grew and she broke out into a jog. As she grew closer to the house, she noticed that the building looked quite old and was in poor shape. Fiona guessed this meant the house was abandoned, which was great! Now she didn't have to explain to some random stranger why she wanted to sleep in their home, she could just bust right in and rest in peace. Perhaps she could even claim this building as her own and settle down here! The more Fiona thought about it, the more excited she got. Sure, the place was hideous and needed tons of work done if Fiona wanted it to look anything like a home she would be happy living in, but it was a solid start! It also gave her someplace to sleep, which was all she wanted to do right now.

Fiona became so distracted by her thoughts of the building that she didn't realize that she was now standing right in front of the entrance for it. Once she made this realization, she snapped out of her daydreaming.

Upon examining the door, Fiona assumed that she would have an easy time knocking it down with a hard kick. That's when the thought of checking to make sure the door wasn't locked crossed her mind. Fiona gripped the rusty doorknob and gave it a small turn. The doorknob budged without any resistance, and the vixen easily pushed the door open.

Fiona took her first steps into the worn-down building and found that the floorboards were extremely lose and made a loud squeaking noise every time she set her foot down on one. She shrugged it off and continued to enter the building. The entrance hall actually looked decent for a house in such poor condition. It almost appeared as if someone had just cleaned it or something. Actually, once Fiona took a sniff of her new home, she found that it smelt like some strawberry and flower spray cleaner. This confused the vixen greatly since she was expecting a much more dreadful smell to come from such an old building.

That's when Fiona felt a sharp pain from the back of her head. Before she could even turn around to see what was going on, her body was pushed forward with such forced that she fell to the floor, causing the floorboards to let out an ear-hurting screech.

Fiona attempted at turning around to see what was happening, but she was stopped by a force pushing down on her back, causing her to be pinned to the floor.

"Give me your name and tell me what you are doing here," a demanding voice echoed from behind here. Judging by the voice, Fiona assumed that her attacker was a male, and one really ticked off male at that. For some reason, however, Fiona felt that the voice was almost familiar in a way. Shaking this fact off, Fiona turned her head around in rage. Who did this punk think he is, attacking her from behind like that?!

"That's none of your business! Now get off me, you-"The angered Fiona stopped mid-sentence for when she turned her head around, she got sight of the attacker and recognized the face almost instantly. It seemed that the attacker felt the same, for he gave a small gasp upon seeing her face.

Fiona nearly whispered, "Shadow?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Hiya all the peeps who decided to read this! So, I wrote Chapter 4. It's a short chapter and not a lot happens... Sorry... I will try to get a longer part for Chapter 5. I hope you can enjoy this chapter anyways, though. It's a bit rushed since I was highly determined to post a chapter for today even if I didn't really know what to type. Haha. Well, I think it's good enough for FanFiction. Hope you enjoy! Cobalt Wolf!**

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An awkward silence. That's the only thing that occurred as Fiona and Shadow starred at each other. What were they to say anyways? 'Oh, sorry I broke into your house. I thought it was empty because it's a total dump and I was planning on crashing here. Is that okay with you?' 'Yeah, of course it is! You know how much I love people, Fiona! Please, do spend the night at my dump-of-a-house!' Fiona doubted that Shadow would let that fly.

Fiona really didn't know that much about Shadow. She may of might him once or twice before, but most of her knowledge of the hedgehog came from what Scrouge told her about him. So, that basically meant, she only knew that Shadow lost to Scourge in one fight, for that's _all _Scrouge talked about when the topic of the darker hedgehog was mentioned.

As the red fox continued to stare at Shadow, she could have sworn that he was looking into her soul. His ruby eyes were so serious and his glare was unblinking, it almost encouraged Fiona to get up and flee from the building without saying a word. That's how creepy these dude's eyes were.

Determined to break the awkward silence, Fiona said that first thing that popped into her mind…

"Did you know that the air in this room smells like strawberries?"

_Smooth, _Fiona thought to herself, _I'm sure that gave him the perfect first impression of me._

Fiona gave Shadow an uncomfortable smile and a nervous laugh, hoping that her question didn't really sound as stupid as she thought it did. To her surprise, the red-stripped hedgehog actually replied.

"I just used some spray cleaner in here earlier…" Shadow's voice sounded just as uneasy as Fiona's did, this made the vixen give off a sigh of relief.

_He's just as confused as I am. Great. Maybe I can just apologize for breaking into his home and get the heck outta here! _Fiona thought as she pushed herself off the ground. As she proceeded to brush some dust off her outfit, Shadow took his turn in asking her a question. Though, his question was a bit more reasonable than the vixen's.

"Why are you in my house?" His voice had lost the uneasy tone and now sounded just as serious as his soul-staring eyes were.

"Oh, well…" Fiona began, trying to find a good way to explain this to him, "I was just in the area looking for some place to rest and I found this building. I didn't know anyone lived here, so I just kind of… invited myself in." The red vixen gave a small smile, hoping that the dark hedgehog would take this explanation and allow her to leave in peace.

"What were you doing around these parts? Did the rest of those anti- punks come too?" Shadow growled out the question about the anti's, his eyes showed disgust as the thought of them coming come to his mind.

"Well, somebody is being a bit nosy! I don't think my business in any of your business," The vixen stated, her normal sassy attitude coming back to her as she spoke. A sly smile crossed her lips and she placed her hands on her hips, giving her a sassy appearance to match the attitude.

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_Fantastic. A girl I barely know breaks into my house and now she is giving me her sassiness. And from what I know about Fiona, I'm going to get quite a bit of this sass. That's just what I need… _Shadow thought to himself as he gave out a huff of frustration. He really didn't want to put up with Fiona right now.

"Look, girl, I don't want to start a fight, just tell me what you are doing. You are the one that broke into my house, so I think I have the right to get some answers," the dark hedgehog said, praying that the female would agree without much hassle. To Shadow's luck, the feisty fox actually did drop her original approach and gave him some information without much fuss.

"If you must know, I ditched Scourge and his gang. I'm going solo style now," she began, letting her hands come off her hips and be brought up into a crossed-arms position. "Those losers weren't worth my time anyways."

"You gave up on Scrouge? What caused this to happen?" Shadow wasn't asking for Fiona's reason for entering his home anymore, now he just wanted plain answers. He was highly curious about this girl for some reason. Just the way she moves from group to group and acted like it didn't bother her at all, Shadow wondered if she had any loyalty in her.

"For the same reason on why I left the Freedom Fighters, I got bored with it. I was originally attracted to Scourge's bad boy act, but after a while, it just got old. All he talked about was himself and his revenge on Sonic. Soon enough, that revenge was about all he cared about, he hardly paid attention to me. I put up with it for a little bit, but I had to draw the line somewhere. Scourge's bad boy act just lost its charm due to his selfishness and longing for revenge. Bummer."

Shadow gave a small nod to show that he understood, but he didn't say anything. There really wasn't anything for him to say anyways. It seemed like this Fiona-chick had an issue with loyalty. From what Shadow heard, she seems to have given up on many things in life. This is probably the fifth time she's bailed on a group for her own good.

Not like Shadow was one to judge someone about that, he's been switching sides all along. From working with Eggman, to working with the Freedom Fighters, to just doing things for himself; Shadow never truly stayed loyal to a group either. Perhaps he and Fiona had something in common…

"Since you have nowhere to go, Fiona, would you like to stay here with me?"

_Now where did that come from?! _Shadow thought to himself. One second he was thinking about this fox's loyalty problems and the next his mouth betrays him and makes him ask that! He hardly knows this girl and he's sworn himself to loneliness after his horrible lose, why would his brain make him ask Fiona to stay with him?!

Shadow was so mixed up about his mouth's strange betrayal that he nearly missed Fiona saying that she would love to stay.

… Fiona saying the she would love to stay…

… Would love to stay…

The moment that this information processed in Shadow's mind, his pupils shrank and his muzzle was flushed of color. He was in such a state that he could barely speak.

"You- What?-Stay? - You- Here- Huh?" That was about all the hedgehog could muster.

"I said that I'm glad you offered. I'm willing to stay at your house," The vixen started as she repeated herself, "I've been running around outside for hours, so I'm dead tired, and it's getting late. I also have nowhere else to go. So, even though I'm not fond with staying with someone I never truly met before, it looks like I don't have many options."

Shadow was on the verge of falling over. It wasn't the fact that Fiona was spending the night that scared him; it was the fact that he is a loner, and doesn't interact without people unless he has to. The thought of someone actually being in the same house with him was a foreign idea, and an idea that he wasn't very fond of.

"So," his new house guest began, "Where do I sleep?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hiya all the peeps who decided to read this! I am hear to announce that I have written Chapter 5 for Fiona and Shadow! I am very sorry to report that this is more of a fill chapter and not a lot of plot occurs... Sorry! I know I said I would get to the plot soon, but... It just hasn't happened yet! I'm still trying to piece together how all my ideas for this story are going to fit it! Hahahahahahahahaha. Oh, and I have a really important question for you guys that will effect the story greatly! DO YOU WANT THIS TO BE A FRIENDSHP OR ROMANCE STORY?! I was originally planning on a friendship story, but I have recently fell in love with the couple of FionaxShadow. I was only planning on hinting the couple every now and then, but now I was considering making this a full our love story. I want to know what you guys think first, though. For I don't want to write a story that will make some peeps out there mad at me... so please let me know! Thank you! Cobalt Woof!**

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As Fiona and Shadow walked down the hallway, there was an uneasy silence resting between them. Neither of them truly wanted to stay in the same house together, Fiona just didn't have any other options and Shadow's mouth betrayed him.

The floorboard' obnoxious squeaking remained to be the only noise in the area. Shadow was trying to figure out what he was going to do and Fiona was just trying to follow the hedgehog through the twisting corridors of his home.

Eventually, the two were rescued from the overwhelming tension when they finally reached a spare guest room for Fiona to sleep in. Shadow made sure to choose the room farthest away from his bedroom, for he wanted to leave as much space between him and the unwanted houseguest as possible.

The dark hedgehog opened the door for his guest and made a hand gesture, signaling her to enter. The vixen slowly made her way into her new room. There wasn't much to look at, for the room was quite small and could only hold so much furniture. A single-person bed was pushed up against the back wall of the room in the corner, as if it were cowering from anyone who dared enter the chamber. There was also a desk that was pressed to the left wall. Sitting upon the desk was a pencil or two plus some blank sheets of paper.

_What am I supposed to do with that? Doodle like a little 5-year-old? _Fiona thought before she directed her eyes towards the only other thing that was placed in the room; a mirror. Leaning along the right wall of the guest room was a body-length mirror. It had a small crack in the upper left-hand corner of it and brown smudges covered the rest of the surface. It obviously has seen better days…

"I know it isn't the choice room for someone to stay," the hedgehog male said as he began to turn away, "but it's basically all I have to offer. You're only staying for one day, anyways, so it should be fine."

The red-furred female nodded, "I guess… I'll be able to live with it… But it really will need some work." She knew that she shouldn't be that rude to Shadow. He did give her a place to stay after she broke into his house and gave him a bunch of unneeded attitude, she should be grateful. But, the room was a dump, and Fiona wasn't all the interested in sleeping in it. The forever alone hedgehog nodded and made his way down the hall. Before he got out of ear-range though, he shouted to his lady visitor that his room was down the hall attached to the living room.

Now, Fiona Fox was all alone in her knew "room", though she thought it was more of a closet with old furniture rather than a room meant for guests. The picky fox took small steps across the closet-room, the squeaking floor making it sound as if the ground was about the collapse from under her. She made her way to her "bed", which appeared as if the sheets haven't been properly washed in about two years. Her icy eyes gave disgusted glares around the room as she eyeballed the items that Shadow had left her with. If you couldn't tell, Fiona really didn't like the guestroom.

Eventually her stare made its way to a small window that was above the bed. It was pretty high up there, so Fiona had to stand on top of the bed just to see out of off it. The outside world looked so dark and cold; it made the vixen feel lucky that she didn't have to sleep out there. As she lowered herself from the window, she decided that she should try her best to get some rest now.

Even if the bed wasn't up to her standards, it's what she had to rest on. It was only for one night anyways, for tomorrow she was getting herself out of this place and finding somewhere decent to live out her life solo-style. Now that she thought about it, she would probably have to ask Shadow where the nearest village was tomorrow, for she didn't have any background knowledge of the area and would be lost without some assistance.

Fiona laid herself down on the mattress. She pulled the comforter over her body, making sure not to get the gross and worn thing too close to her face. After she made herself comfortable upon the bed, she shut her eyes and attempted to fall asleep, which turned out to be much harder than she thought.

For the next few hours, Fiona laid awake in the smelly bed. She just couldn't sleep and it made her feel like an insomniac. Shutting her eyes, the stubborn girl attempted to force herself into her dream world, but to no avail. Sleep was just something that wouldn't come to her. It wasn't until around what Fiona believed to be 3:00 am that she finally managed to get some slumber.

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The next morning was one that both Fiona and Shadow were looking forward too for the same reason. Fiona was planning on leaving early on that day. As the previously mentioned female awoke from her short rest, she quickly removed herself from the filthy bed. She did some stretching to wake herself up, for something told her that she was going to have to walk a long way to make it to the closest civilization. Shadow just didn't seem like one of those people who would live that close to anyone.

After Fiona finished her daily stretches, she made her way over to the old, broken mirror. She viewed her appearance and made some minor adjustments to her hair. Even though she didn't have anyone to look good for, she still always liked to look her best. Besides, she absolutely hated having tangled hair in the morning. It just made her feel sloppy and, in her opinion, look dreadful. Once she finished fixing her hair and the yellow bow that she kept on top of her head, Fiona began to march herself down the hallway of the old house.

She tried her best to remember where the front door was, and hoped that she didn't have to run into Shadow as she made her escape. It would be polite of her to at least say thank you to him for letting her stay in his home, but Fiona had no intention of doing such thing. It's not like he was all that great of a host anyways. That's when Fiona recalled that she still didn't know where the nearest town was. Perhaps she should search for the hedgehog, just to get some information on where she was going.

Quicker than a heartbeat, the vixen turned herself around and darted back down the hall from where she came. She hadn't the slightest idea on where the boy was, but she assumed that he would either be in his room or the kitchen. That's when she realized that she hadn't the slightest idea on where the kitchen was. Though, she did recollect Shadow mentioning where his room was. But, from what the fox remembered, he said that his room was down the hallway that was attached to the living room, and Fiona didn't know where the living room was either.

Usually, finding rooms in a building would be easy. You just needed to search around a bit and soon enough you would run into the room you were searching for. This was not the case for this building, however. There were so many corridors and so many rooms, also keeping in mind that this place is as old as the dinosaurs so every place basically looked like a dump, making it very hard to tell what each room was supposed to be. In the end, Fiona managed to come across a room which could possibly resemble a kitchen. It had something that looked like a refrigerator, some cabinets, even some type of olden day stove.

The room reminded the teenage girl that she hadn't eaten all of today or most of yesterday. Finally noticing that she was starving, Fiona made her was over to the refrigerator and swung the door open. Again, she knew that it was rude to steal food from someone's fridge without permission, but you should know by now that Fiona isn't one known for her manners. The hungry vixen swiftly scanned the food storage for anything that she would be willing to dine on. All she found though was shelves full with nothingness. The fridge was completely empty. She then turned to searching through the cabinets just to come to similar results.

"What in the name of Chaos is going on in here?!" Fiona yelled out in rage. Why did Shadow have a kitchen with no food in it? It seemed completely pointless.

"Something says that you were looking for food," a low-pitched, masculine voice sounded out. Of course, it was none other than Shadow the Hedgehog who was standing in the kitchen doorway, his eyes trailing around the room to see that every cabinet and even the fridge had been opened and searched through.

The surprise to find that someone has been watching her made Fiona jump and let out a yelp of shock. When she realized who it was, her shock melted away and was replaced by her famous sassiness.

"I wonder what gave you that idea, hot-shot."

"If you wanted something to eat, couldn't you of just asked me? It could have been a lot easier than scavenging throughout my whole kitchen," Shadow replied dully as he took a few steps into the room.

"How was I supposed to know that you were one of the only people who didn't actually keep food in their kitchen?! What's the deal with that anyways? Why don't you have any food?" Fiona placed her hands on her hips and glared at the hedgehog as she started to question away at him.

"I just don't spend all that much time in this house, so I never saw the point in keeping food around. I usually head out to the grocery store or something if I ever was in the need for food," The black and red creature stated as if it were the most obviously thing ever. This made Fiona cross her arms and give a little snarl. Being talked to like an idiot that was something that she hated more than messy morning hair or a kitchen with a lack of food.

"Oh, but of course. How could I be so foolish as to not know that," Fiona stated sarcastically and rolled her eyes. She then focused her glare back onto the boy in front of her. "Well, what are we still doing around here? Let's get some breakfast! The quicker we eat, the quicker I can ditch this dump- Er, not that your house is that much of a dump, of course…" Fiona changed her sentence midway as her host began to give her his oh-so-famous soul-staring gaze. Seriously, Shadow had one creepy stare.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiya all the peeps who decided to read this! Yay! Another chapter! This chapter is actually the longest one I've typed for this story so far... and it actually has plot in it! Though the first part may seem a bit pointless, I promise you that there is plot in this chapter! For some reason, however, I have been having doubts on where this chapter is heading... I know what I'm going to write for the next chapter and all, but I'm not sure what I'm going to write after that... I guess I'll just have to think of something when the time comes, eh? Well, enjoy the chapter! Cobalt Woof!**

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Groceries stores are usually known as places where people come in, buy food, and get out. But, when you have reputation for being a traitor to all of Mobius or for being a psychotic hedgehog, it takes the whole grocery shopping thing to a whole new level.

Not only were Fiona and Shadow receiving dirty looks from everyone they passed, they also had to be stopped in the grocery aisles several times by some punks who were just asking for trouble. Luckily though, Shadow was capable of keeping those situations under control before any major fights broke out.

"I though you said you usually go to grocery stores and restaurants!" Fiona blurted out shortly after the duo once again avoided a few fellows asking for a fight. "If you go out so often, then why are people so unused to seeing you?!"

The dark hedgehog let out a small huff and faced the questioning fox. "It's not me who they are not use to seeing," he began, "it's you! You were the one who betrayed all the Freedom Fighters and went to Moebius with Scourge's gang! You even helped Scourge in his attempts to bring Mobius Prime to its knees! Do you really expect the people here to just greet you with open arms and welcome you back into their world?"

The harsh question caused the foxy female to let out a long sigh and cross her arms over her chest. Though she didn't give a response, Shadow could tell that he upset her greatly with his comments. Before he was capable of making amends with the vixen, however, the two of them reached the first food product on their list for breakfast. Shadow silently grabbed a box of pancake mix, gently setting it inside the cart that they had picked out earlier. This caused Fiona to scrunch up her nose and give the box a disappointed gaze.

"What?" The male hedgehog asked, slightly confused by his shopping companion's reaction. "Do you not like pancakes?"

"I just don't think they taste as good as waffles," the teenage girl stated plainly, lifting her stare off of the pancake mix and directing it towards Shadow.

"Then," Shadow said as he removed the box from the cart and returned it to its proper place on the store self, "we should go get some waffles. Are Eggo Waffles okay with you?"

"I freakin' love Eggo Waffles," that was the only thing Fiona said, keeping her face as serious as possible while doing so. Shadow gave a small roll of his eyes; he has never seen someone be so stern about their waffle choice.

The pair proceeded to make their way down the aisle to where all the different waffle brands were aligned against the shelves of the store. While making their way over, however, they were once again spotted by some sour-mannered fool. Before Shadow was capable of grabbing the wanted Eggo Waffles off of the shelving, his path was blocked by some snarling dog.

The brown pooch couldn't be older than twenty, though he still was quite a bit ahead of Shadow and Fiona size wise. The dude was pretty big, and he had a mess of matted brown fur all over his body. His teeth were sharp like snake fangs and his snarl remained planted on his face. Even though the male's appearance was very much troublesome, neither of the smaller two flinched or gave any sign of acknowledgement that he was even there. Both Fiona and Shadow had been in their fair share of fights against some pretty wicked opponents in their past, so it would take more than some random canine in a grocery store to get them to shiver.

"Hey," The hound barked out, clearly letting his anger travel into his voice, "if it isn't the little girl who betrayed Mobius." The dog gave a toothy grin towards Fiona, though it was quite obvious that the male mutt wasn't trying to be friendly by any means.

"What do you want, flea-breath?" Fiona hissed in reply, taking a few slow steps toward the bad-mannered man, showing him that she wasn't afraid of him at all.

"Big talk for such a little lady," the dog merely stated, making Fiona give him a snarl that was as equally as troublesome as his.

"Look, mutt, just move your butt out of our way and there won't be any trouble!" The vixen demanded, signaling the aisle-block to step to the side. The pooch did no such thing, however.

"I'll move when I'm good and ready too, chick. Unless," the canine said, leaning in closer to the fox's face as he finished his sentence, "you're willing to make me move."

This caused the red-furred girl to gain a smirk, her eyes now containing a gleam of evilness. "Only because _you_ suggested it," she said, making sure that she placed her hands on her hips and leaned into the dog's face as she strained the 'you'.

The two were obviously on the verge of fighting. But, just like all the other times before this, Shadow broke up the scene before any blood began to spill. The red-stripped one simply walked in between the angered pair and used his hands to push their faces away from each other.

"Now, now children, there is no need for violence," Shadow said in a nearly mocking voice, releasing both their faces from his hands. Fiona just simply huffed and, once again, crossed her arms. The hound also huffed, but also took several steps backwards.

"Whatever," was the only thing he said before he turned around and went back to minding his own business.

Shadow then looked over his shoulder, focusing his attention on the red vixen.

"Let's get the waffles and get out of here before you get yourself a black eye," was the only thing he said, and then returned to his duty of pushing the cart.

Soon after Shadow selected a container of Eggo Waffles to buy and paid for it, he and his houseguest left the grocery store and prepared to Chaos Control back to the black hedgehog's house. But, of course, things didn't go their way and they were once again interrupted by some passerby on the street. This passerby, however, was no ordinary guy, he was Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Well look who it is!" The speedy mammal cooed as he made his way over to Shadow and Fiona, who were both giving him extremely displeased glares. Sonic, not picking up that those glares meant that they wanted to be left alone, continued to pester the pair.

"Did you already get yourself a new boyfriend, Fiona? I knew you'd eventually realize Scourge was no good, but I didn't think you'd be able to figure it out this quickly!" The blue blur continued, directing his attention towards Shadow. "And out of all the people to hook up with, I would have to say that Shadow is a pretty interesting choice." The speedy hero let out a light chuckle as Shadow fixed his icy glare onto him.

"Oh shut your mouth, Sonic!" Fiona growled, intruding on Sonic's laughing fit. "For your information, Shadow and I are just acquaintances. Also, it's not like you are one to talk about dating! How many girlfriends have you had before? Let's see…" The vixen started to count on her fingers as she looked off into the distance, having the expression of someone deep in thought.

"There's Sally Acorn, of course," Fiona began as she listed all of Sonic's previous romance partners, "Amy Rose, Mina Mongoose, then there was me, and I also do recall hearing that you've done an awful lot of flirting with Bunnie Rabbot and Nicole. I mean, Nicole's a robot! Do your womanizer ways know no boundaries?!"

"Oh come on, now," Sonic snapped, his cocky smile vanishing and being replaced by a deep frown, "So I flirt a little here and there, that's just who I am. I mean, it's not like I cheated on any of those girls and slapped their best friend across the face!"

A sneer formed on Fiona's face as Sonic noted the breakup that the two had gone through. She quickly whisked around and faced the blue hedgehog.

"Listen here, you jerk!" The female fox roared as she jabbed her finger into Sonic's chest. "You haven't any right to say something like that to me! My life is already hard enough and the last thing I need is some smart-mouthed punk to come over and bug me about such stupid little things like that! Why can't you go and bother somebody else and just leave me alone!"

The sudden outburst truly did have an effect on Sonic, for his whole outlook changed in less than 3.5 seconds. The boastful atmosphere around the speedster vanished and a gentler one took its place. Sonic put a small smile on his muzzle and rested his hand upon Fiona's shoulder, which the vixen was not too happy about.

"Now come on Fi!" The cobalt-spine hedgehog cheered. "You know it's just my nature to get on people's nerves like that! I meant no harm from it! I'm sorry, to you and your boyfriend, Shadow!"

Fiona abruptly shoved Sonic's hand off her shoulder and calmly declared, "Don't touch me, hedgehog. Ever. And again, Shadow and I are not dating. We just happen to be grocery shopping together."

With this being said, Sonic gave an understanding nod and another cheerful smile. He pulled his hand away from Fiona and rested it beside his hip.

"Actually, now that I think about it," Sonic said, appearing as if an idea had stricken him that very second, "I could actually use your guys' help!"

"What?" The red-furred female asked in shock. "What do you want our help with? And an even better question, what makes you think that I would ever want to help you?"

"Well," Sonic began to run one of his hands through his spines, "my team and I are kind of in a pickle, and we could really use some assistance…"

"Your team?" Fiona questioned.

Sonic removed his hand from his spines and happily replied, "Yes, my team. Sally, Tails, Rotor, Bunnie, Antoine, and I. We are in the middle of a mission and sort of ran into some issues." The hedgehog paused for a second for reasons unknown before continuing. "You see, there has been a factory around the Mesia Mountains that has been producing dangerous weapons. Not only is it creating these weapons, but it's planning on sending a huge shipment straight to one of our enemies. So, of course, it's the Freedom Fighters job to stop this from happening! The only problem is they managed to create some type of force field around the factory that's preventing anyone from entering. My team has been trying to find ways to get inside and shut the place down for days now, but to no avail. This is where we could use your help. Though we are incapable of walking through the force field, we might be capable of using Chaos Control to enter."

Sonic turned himself so that he was facing Shadow, who had remained silent ever since Sonic had entered the scene. He gave the other hedgehog a hopeful smile as if he could mentally will Shadow to help him.

"I see where I can help you, hedgehog," Shadow stated plainly, "but where does Fiona come in?"

The question seemed to catch Sonic a bit off guard since he paused for a moment, but he eventually regained his posture and answered just as plainly has Shadow had, "I'm not sure how willing Fiona is to helping us, but if she's determined to make a commitment, I'm sure we could use all the fighting hands we can get to fend off any trouble we might run into."

"No way," Fiona spit out bluntly. "You can help the Freedom Failures if you want to Shadow, but I'm not having any part in it!"

Shadow gave a miniature nod in Fiona's direction and turned back towards Sonic, who was looking hopefully in return.

"We'll help, hedgehog. The both of us will."

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**I know I usually don't write end notes, but I did on this chapter because I just some things to say. For example, I was very curious on why I made Sonic seem like such a begging jerk in this chapter! I'm sorry if any Sonic fans out there get offended by Sonic's actions in this chapter, I really don't know why I made him act that way! But, don't worry, if Sonic ever appears in later chapters, I'll make sure to give him a more loveable personality. Hahahaha. Also, I wonder what happened to Fiona and Shadow eating breakfast, since they still haven't gotten to it yet...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hiya all the peeps who decided to read this! It's late at night, but I was determined to get Chapter 7 up today! And here it is! Since I typed this chapter so late at night, it's probably not the best. I hope you peeps out there don't mind though. That's basically all I have to say about this chapter... Hahahaha. Well, enjoy! Cobalt Woof!**

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"Excuse me, but have you completely lost your MIND?!" The angered Fiona Fox shouted at Shadow. "Did you not hear me when I said that I WASN'T going to help those losers or are you just plain stupid?!"

The enraged vixen leaned in and growled two inches from the black hedgehog's face, as if it wasn't apparent enough that she was upset with him. In return, Shadow simply pushed the female away using his hand.

"Yes, I did hear you. It would be impossible not to over your unnecessary screaming. Now, please respect the boundaries of my personal space and take a few steps back," he said plainly, not even bothering to glance at the girl.

Fiona slapped Shadow's hand away from her face and, reluctantly, took a few steps away from his. Even though the infuriated fox would be perfectly willing to share more of her thoughts about the matter, she kept her outburst to herself and let the two hedgehogs speak… for now…

"So, you two are in?" Sonic chimed in, a smug little smile forming over his muzzle.

Shadow merely bobbled his head up and down, giving the blue mammal the only signal he needed. Hurriedly, Sonic flipped himself around using the heels of his feet so that his back was facing the newly-recruited duo. He gave his signature thumbs up and hollered an "Alright!"

"I'll let the two of you go home and prepare yourselves. We'll probably only need to camp near the mountains for a day or so, so you shouldn't need _that _much stuff. Anyways, I'm going to let my team know that you'll be joining us, just do your Chaos Controlling-thing to meet us on the east side of the Mesia Mountains! Check you later!" And with those words being spoken, Sonic zoomed off in the opposite direction, wasting no time to return to his team.

Shadow directed his attention towards Fiona. Without saying anything, he held his hand out to her and pulled a Chaos Emerald from the protective shelter of his spines.

"Shall we return to my house now to prepare?"

"Prepare?" Fiona said in a sickened tone, making sure that she scrunched up her nose and bared her teeth a little. Just to add to the dramatic scene she was making over such an insignificant word. "Prepare for what?! I told you I wasn't going, and that's final! I don't need to prepare for anything! In fact, the only thing that I _should_ be preparing for is preparing to move out of your house and get my own!"

The hedgehog released a sigh and shook his head in disapproval. He didn't understand why the girl had to be so… so… difficult about _everything. _First, she didn't like his guestroom, then she didn't like the lack of food in his kitchen, then the pancake mix, and now she doesn't like helping the Freedom Fighters. She really did find a way to be picky about nearly everything. In fact, the only thing she hasn't been fussy about is her being such a pain for the loner hedgehog.

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By the time the pair managed to return to Shadow's house, they were both nearly starving from the delay their breakfast was put under. In a matter of seconds, the hungry animals popped their Eggo Waffles into the banged-up toaster that Shadow was capable of finding, and nearly devoured the waffle-y goodness as soon as it left its toasting chamber.

The conversations between the team of two had quickly died down since the eruption of anger Fiona unleashed back at outside the grocery store. Neither of the two even attempted to make a discussion after the scene, and, thankfully, neither of them truly wanted to talk anyways. Fiona was still heart content on leaving and Shadow was heart content on making Fiona leave. Therefore, their silent relationship didn't really bother either much.

However, when it came time for Shadow to teleport away to the Freedom Fighter base, the female vixen couldn't help but blurt out a tiny question that had been nagging at her throughout the period of silence.

"Hey Shadow…" Fiona started, taking a few awkward steps towards the leaving hedgehog. She wasn't really feeling 100% about this question. Though the fox couldn't really understand the uncomfortable feeling of asking her host this question gave her, she knew that she was nearly shaking with nerves as she continued to approach him.

"Yes?" The dark hedgehog asked blandly, twisting his head to be facing over his shoulder to where Fiona was standing. Seeing how nervous the female look, Shadow drew quite curious on what she was about to say. It seemed like one of those drama show scenes where a big heart-confession was made. The girl walking towards the guy nervously and then delivers the news of a lifetime which completely throws the whole story plot for a loop- You know, that kind of scene.

"I just wanted to ask you something before you left," Fiona began slowly, mentally judging if this was the right thing to ask. This worry was soon followed by a mental face palm from the fox. How could she let such a stupid thing get to her like this?! She was just asking Shadow a completely normal question; it wasn't like she was telling him that she was dying of some horrid disease! All she had to do was spit the words out and get an answer; it just wasn't like her to get so worked-up by something so simple. Just spit out the question.

"Why did you want me to help the Freedom Fighters so badly?"

See? Completely normal question. It was nothing that Fiona needed to get all nervous and worried about. She didn't even know what made her think that such a question would be so hard to ask.

Shadow, however, was not shaking the question off as his female guest did. The question actually caused him to freeze for a second. It wasn't the surprise of the question that threw him; it was the fact that he didn't have an answer. He truly didn't know why he was so determined to get the vixen to join him on this mission. He knew she hated the Freedom Fighters and that she would have no interest in going, so why did he persist that she should go? That's when an answer came to Shadow. Even though he wasn't sure that this is legitimately the reason why he asked Fiona to join him, it was plenty good of a reason for him to have.

"I just thought it would be a good chance for you to… renew yourself," Shadow stated in a calm voice, making it seem like he was absolutely confident in his words. "I just got to thinking about how many people stopped us in the grocery store due to the fact that you were a traitor, and I thought that it would be beneficial if you did a mission with the Freedom Fighters to… you know… create a better reputation for yourself that would allow you to fit into society easier."

Though Shadow still remained unsure if this answer was true, it did hold truth to it. If Fiona was able to build a new reputation of working with the Freedom Fighters to cancel out her old reputation of assisting Scourge, the people here would be more willing to except her. The struggle of finding a home for her to settle down in alone would become a much easier task if she had the new reputation on her side. However, all the darker hedgehog earned from the valid reason was a laugh and a snarky comment from the female.

"And who said I cared about what the people of Mobius thought? Their opinions are totally meaningless to me. Your efforts to trying to help me "fit into society easier" are utterly pointless, bub."

"Oh," was all Shadow mustered out, slightly upset that the vixen gave such a negative feedback to his reasoning. He was only trying to give an answer to a question that _she _had asked. He didn't understand why she had to be so mean about it. He also didn't understand why he cared that much. Fiona's just a random chick that broke into his house one night, why should he care about what she thinks? Shadow was used to living alone and blocking bothering people out, Fiona should be no exception.

Even though Shadow told himself these things, the hurt feeling that the vixen's reaction gave him didn't fade. He wasn't just the reaction she gave to his answer- oh no- It was the reaction that she gave to _everything _he did for her. She broke into his house and Shadow still was nice enough to give her a room, yet she complained about it and told him that "it needed work" if it was going to live up to her expectations. After that, Shadow went to the grocery store to purchase them some food with his own money, and Fiona shouted at him on why _he _was attracting so much attention to the people around after he claimed he usually went to the stores. Then after that, Shadow gave Fiona a chance to renew herself and help her find a place along the civilians here, but instead of rejecting nicely, she laughed and told him it was pointless. Shadow did a lot for Fiona and still hasn't received much appreciation. Though he didn't understand why his feelings were hurt by such things, he knew that he dearly did not like the way Fiona has been treating him while he was only assisting her.

The hedgehog then turned away from Fiona and prepared himself to use Chaos Control so he could escape the uncomfortable situation both of them were digging into. That's when he gave himself a wake-up call and realized that he wasn't about to let a snappy comment make him run away like a little baby. He whisked his whole body around this time to face Fiona and decided that he would leave her company with a snippy comment of his own.

"I was just wanting to tell you something too, Fiona," he declared, making sure he gave the vixen a little attitude in his voice. He has received his far share in attitude from the girl, so it's about time he returned the favor.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew that it was all the bratty and rude individuals like you out there that caused me to want to live the way I do. Alone and far away from everyone."

And without another sound, the accomplished creature left the area with a Chaos Control, leaving a stunned female fox behind him.

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What Shadow said was not the truth by any means. The real reason he didn't get close to people was because of his loss of Maria and the ARK. After such sentimental things were removed from his life, Shadow just never let himself get close to anyone else. The things Shadow told Fiona were complete lies that he created to make her feel guilt.

And he hadn't the slightest idea on why he let the girl get to him like that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hiya all the peeps who decided to read this! I know it's been about two days since I posted a chapter, and I'm sorry. The fact is that I had an English essay that I had to type up for school, and I focused all my writing on that. I'm sorry for the wait, but I finally got another chapter! Sorry if this one is poorly edited, you might be tired of hearing me say-or type- this, but I didn't really edit this one either. I didn't edit this one though because I didn't want to keep all you peeps out there waiting! I hope you still enjoy this one though! Cobalt Woof!**

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Fiona Fox stood there, completely stunned. She wasn't really sure on how she should react to Shadow's comment. Sure, she could care less about the hedgehog, but still…. It was a nagging thought to think that the hedgehog was a loner due to people like her… Fiona knew she wasn't the nicest girl in the world, but she didn't think she was all that bad. How kind is a girl who lost all faith in others supposed to be?

The vixen rolled her eyes in an uncaring fashion. Shadow was probably just being a drama queen- or king, in this case. She shouldn't let such shallow words get to her. It's not like she actually cared that much about other people's opinions. She has been judged throughout almost all her life, this occasion wasn't any different… right?

"Blasted hedgehog doesn't know anything about me," Fiona grumbled under her breath. "That stupid son of a robot doesn't know what he's talking about anyways," she continued to reassure herself. Not that she needed reassurance; she didn't care anyways… right?

Once again, the fox rolled her eyes. She shouldn't be this unsure about something so pointless. Shadow's thoughts of her didn't matter… right? She mentally slapped herself.

"You really need to get your act together, Fiona," she addressed herself, growing irritated with her constant confusion over Shadow. "He's just some dude that gave you a room to sleep in," she continued.

Upon saying that though, Fiona recalled that she still had to get ready to leave. Since Shadow obviously didn't want her around anymore, she might as well get her stuff together and head out. There wasn't really a purpose behind staying any longer, anyways. She already got the rest and food she needed from him, so she might as well bail. There was a whole new solo-style life out there that was calling to her, and she probably kept it waiting long enough.

Swiftly, Fiona shoved her confusing thoughts of Shadow aside and made her way to the door.

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With a simple Chaos Control, Shadow was able to reach the Freedom Fighter's base with easy. It wasn't much of a base, however, but more of a hidden camping trip. There were several tents set up in a circle surrounding a large wooden table. Most of the tents were quite small in size, probably only meant for one person. Upon approaching the base-camp area, the black hedgehog immediately saw the Freedom Fighter team scattered around their miniature base.

Once he managed to enter their camp, he was greeted in a most…. Interesting way.

"Shadow?! What are you doing here?" The squirrel-princess, Sally, asked demandingly. She stood up firmly in front of the male and glared accusingly at him.

"I thought Sonic was supposed to have already explained this to you," Shadow calmly replied. He knew Sonic all too well, and to think that he forgot to inform his fellow teammates of his arrival was of no surprise.

Apparently it wasn't too much of a surprise to Sally either since she just sighed and mumbled something under her breath before motioning Shadow to follow her. She led Shadow deeper into the camp to where a blue hedgehog was found lying around what must have been his tent.

"Sonic," the princess began, sounding quite ticked too.

"What's up, Sal?" The speedster asked in his usually cocky and careless way. He didn't even bother to look up towards the pair as he continued to… do whatever he was doing.

"Were we supposed to be suspecting any visitors?" Sally asked, her voice getting even more frustrated in the carefree hedgehog's response. Just by hearing how easily Sonic annoyed Sally, it was hard for Shadow to believe that they both have feelings for each other.

Nearly everyone in all of Mobius knew that Sonic and Sally love one another. All you had to do is spend five minutes with the two and you'd be able to see their attraction to each other clearly. Yet, both of them fought like cats and dogs at times. Sally was known to be short-tempered a certain times due to the amount of stress she has to go through and Sonic is known for being quite ignorant and careless. Regardless of how many times Sonic drove Sally up the wall though; they always seemed to rely on one another for about everything. It was like fate was playing a cruel mind game with them. It almost made you wonder if all relationships were like this.

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"Boy, am I glad that I didn't bring any luggage with me," Fiona half-smiled as she walked her way through the grassy valley.

She would've hated to have to carry all this baggage around in this heat. It was like the sun was beating you with bricks of pure heat with every step you took. It nearly tempted Fiona to turn around and make a dart for Shadow's house, but she would never let herself do such a thing. Going back to Shadow's house now is like admitting that she was wrong about being able to survive without friends and needed that hedgehog's help. Not that she would ever consider Shadow as being a friend, of course.

The female fox proceeded to move through the grass that obviously hasn't been properly mowed in the last year or so. Just walking in the grass made you feel like you were in a tropical rainforest or something. Between the grass and the heat, Fiona once again considered turning back and spending another day at Shadow's place. Even if she didn't like the hedgehog, she still liked having a roof to sleep under.

Another thing that tempted her return to the building was the fact that she never asked Shadow where the nearest town was. When the duo went to the grocery store, they used Chaos Control to get there. She never truly found out how far away that place was or even what direction it was in. Right now, the vixen was just wandering aimlessly to who-knows-where.

"I hate this," Fiona said to no one in particular. "I really need to find some place to stay. I don't think I can take much more of nature. I never had a strong love for the outdoors in the first place, and this experience certainly isn't helping."

She continued to push herself forward, regardless of all the complaints she threw out. As she ventured onwards, however, she couldn't help but wonder what Shadow was doing. It wasn't that she cared about the Freedom Fighters and their mission or anything; it was that she was slightly worried about-

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF MOBIUS WAS I THINKING?! WAS I SERIOUSLY JUST WORRIED ABOUT SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG?!" Fiona shouted at the top of her lungs. She couldn't believe herself. She just couldn't believe it. For a second, she was actually worried about Shadow. That loner hedgehog who she only met yesterday. How could her mind betray her so and make her worry about him?!

"I," Fiona started in an angered tone, upset about her brain's decision to even consider the fact that she would worry about someone like Shadow, "do not care about that dumb emo-hog."

She didn't care about that hedgehog, not one bit. She wouldn't even care if he dropped dead right now. While he's helping the Freedom Fighters on their mission, if he drops dead right there, Fiona wouldn't care. He didn't mean much to her. It's not like she was actually worried about the hedgehog. Her brain was just playing tricks on her. Saying that she was worried about the hedgehog was like saying she cared about him, which she didn't. For, if she cared about him, she would probably be considered a friend of his. And if she was a friend of his, she would want to be around him. And if she wanted to be around him, she would have gone all the way to the base the Freedom Fighters set up on the east side of the Mesia Mountains to be with him. And, in fact, Fiona began to march to the east side of the Mesia Mountains right now.

Not because she was worried about Shadow, of course, it was just because she…. She wanted to….


	9. Chapter 9

**Hiya all the peeps out there who decided to read this! Well, I finally got another chapter up! I'm not sure why I waited longer than usually to get this one up... It is a bit of a longer chapter, which is good, but I'm sad to report that this is also a fill-chapter. A fill-chapter is basically just a random chapter used to get the story from one point to another and doesn't usually include much action or even that much plot. I'm sorry that it's a fill-chapter, but I needed to get from Point A to Point B some how! I promise next chapter will have more action, plot, and FionaxShadow in it. Well, I hope you still enjoy it! Cobalt Woof!**

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It took a while for Sonic to fully explain to the Freedom Fighters about his plan of having Shadow be an extra addition to the team. Once he did, however, all of the Mobians seemed to ease into the idea and, for the most part, agreed.

The plan was undeniable straight-forward and did have the capability of working. It was known that Shadow has the Chaos Control ability and could simple warp all of them to the other side of the force field that protected the illegal factory. Then, once inside, Shadow was also known to be one of the greatest fighters in all of Mobius, for his Chaos Spears and supersonic speed skills could surely keep the hardest of enemies at ease. Overall, Shadow made an excellent addition to the team.

Trying to adapt to their newly-found teammate, the Freedom Fighters all gathered around the center-camp table. Upon the table were a variety of maps and other papers that seemed to layout the whole area around them. Shadow assumed that the group must have used a few of the maps to navigate their way to where the base-camp was currently located and the other maps were for planning an attack upon the factory.

Making her way to the front of the crowd, Sally Acorn took lead of the team and stood in front of the group. She gave a small wave of her hand to pull everyone's attention towards her. Once she was positive that she had all eyes on her, she twisted herself around to the map-covered table. Quickly, she jabbed her finger at an exact point on the top map, directing all eyes from her to the point.

"Through researching and mapping, we have been able to create an almost exact map of the inner layout of the factory," Sally began, focusing most of her attention on Shadow. The darker hedgehog felt out of place from being starred at so intently by the princess. Sure, he's done missions with the girl before, but that doesn't mean he likes having starring contest with her. Determined to get her to look away, Shadow slowly snuck his way behind Sonic, hoping to hide his face from the royal squirrel.

"Anyways," Sally continued, her tone of voice showing that she was clearly confused by the new teammate's action. She tried to throw him a questioning glare as he proceeded to hide himself away behind her fellow male hedgehog companion. "By examining this map that we have created, I was able to form a plan of action to get us to the control center of the factory. Within the control center should be the very generator that powers a majority of the equipment used throughout the whole building. Once we shut that down, the factory should fall into a weak point, allowing us to easily shut the whole thing down."

The brown rodent cleared her throat as she once again shot a glance at Shadow, who was now completely out of sight from behind Sonic. This finally brought the blue speedster's attention to the actions occurring behind him. In a matter of seconds, Sonic was facing his counterpart with a questioning expression on his face.

"What," Sonic started to ask, "are you doing?"

The black hedgehog froze for a second, thinking of an answer. Then he bluntly stated, "That is classified information that I am not permitted to reveal to the public. Just turn around and pretend that you didn't see anything, hedgehog."

Sonic gave Shadow a freaked-out look before silently turning towards the princess, who had proceeded to arrange a plan.

"Basically," Sally said, "here's how this is going to work. Shadow will be our ticket inside the force field, making sure he teleports us near the west side, where a vent system is located. Once inside, our team will have to split up to get the job done. Tails, Rotor and I will head towards the center control room. Bunnie and Antoine will stand guard outside of the room once we get there. Sonic and Shadow, you will be responsible for causing a distraction. Do anything it takes to keep the attention away from the control area so we can have an easy time disabling that thing! Everyone understand?"

Everyone gave their own small response to show that everything was all understood. Upon that being said and done, Sally moved her way out of the group and began to make her way towards Shadow, who was still in his hiding place behind Sonic.

"Well Shadow, it looks like we'll have to get going now. So you might want to give up on the hiding thing and focus more on your Chaos Control."

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Who knew that the Mesia Mountains were so far away from Shadow's house?

Fiona had been walking for what seemed like hours. Steadily pushing herself forward regardless of how much her feet protested. She was determined to see her hedgehog acquaintance, and she was going to see him no matter how long it took.

Not because she was actually fond of that emotionless rodent, of course! That idea was completely ridiculous… At least that's what Fiona reassured herself every time her mind tried to convince her otherwise.

She marched onwards. Making her way through grass, dirt, and mud. The strong-minded vixen was content on making her way to those blasted mountains even if she had to spend eight days of long, hard jogging to reach them. Nothing was stopping her from this journey she had dedicated the girl had dedicated herself to.

Unless a huge forest with a maze of trees were in her way, of course.

"You," Fiona let out a loud hiss.

A forest with big, dense, overcrowded trees. It was like a blast from the past, and not a good one at that. Recalling her earlier adventure she had with such a forest, Fiona couldn't help but to refuse to go into another forest easily. Walking up to the first little tree that was rooted at the edge of the forest, the fox made sure to give it a nice tap. A nice, hard tap with her foot.

Taking another kick at the tree, Fiona screamed as loud as she could, "OF ALL THE THINGS TO BE IN MY WAY, WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE A FLIPPIN' FOREST?!"

After swinging a couple more kicks at the defenseless sapling, the female stopped to catch her breath. She was already worn-out from the lengthy walk she took to get her, and wasting her energy to beat-up trees wasn't helping. She sat herself down at the beginning of the seemingly endless forest, trying to relax herself.

"Just chill, Fiona," she said to herself, "You can't lose your cool like this over some dumb trees. You have been capable of making it this far, you can make it the rest of the way too."

With that being said, the teenage Mobian turned her attention towards the horizon that lingered beyond the forest. She could see the towering peaks of the Mesia Mountains in the distance. If she could just get beyond this forest, it couldn't be more than a three hour hike before she reached where the Freedom's Fighters base had to be. It was so close, she could already picture what it would be like when she got there. She would be able to see Shadow again. This is an unexplainable urge she had been having ever since the hedgehog left. Even if the vixen refused to admit it, she missed the male terribly.

Not because she liked him or anything! Fiona was still heart-set on convincing herself of that. She just missed the hedgehog because…. Because….. because…. Because he gave her some place to sleep and food to eat. That was it. Fiona may be trying to live a solo life, but she simply needed more time to prepare herself. She was always use to someone being there that would tell her what to do, and she would have to do is listen to them and she'd be fine. Now that there was nobody there to tell her what to do, she just needed time to adjust and get use to calling her own shots. Shadow was just… somebody to use for food and shelter until she was fully ready for her alone life. That was all it was. Fiona just missed her free shelter and food source; she didn't really miss Shadow…

…Right…?

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"Is everyone all set?" Sally barked out as she glanced around at her fellow teammates.

All of the Freedom Fighters had dispersed to gather materials they might need during the shut-down. Now, after all of them had the chance to find these materials, they all gathered around Shadow and Sally who were remained to be around the center table.

Turning towards Shadow, Sally simply asked, "Are you ready, Shadow?"

The chaos-powered hedgehog only gave a small nod, giving everyone the signal they needed to prepare for a Chaos Control. Shadow swiftly removed a Chaos Emerald from his spines and raised it above his head for everyone to gaze upon. With his famous two-word phrase, the whole group vanished in a burst of bright light.

The next thing they were capable of seeing was the west wall of the enemy factory. Feeling satisfied that he completed his mission, Shadow placed the Chaos Emerald back into his spines and turned his attention back towards the group.

"Looks like we're in, guys," Sally addressed her team, "Let's get in and shut this place down!"

Before long, the team separated into their miniature groups and entered the venting system that was found on the west side of the factory. Sonic and Shadow quickly made their way through the constant turning vents, the blue speedster taking charge of their duo almost instantly.

"We're going to have to keep a distraction up for as long as possible to give Tails, Rotor, and Sally enough time to fiddle with that generator thing," Sonic explained to Shadow as if his black counterpart hadn't been there when Sally was telling him this. "To do that, I think we should do a divide and conquer kind of thing. I'll cause havoc on the east side of the factory and you do the same to the west. This will probably cause the factory workers to split in half to go after each of us. Then we just have to keep them out of the middle where the rest of the guys are."

Shadow rolled his eyes and dully replied, "I know, hedgehog, it's not like I'll on purposely foil our whole plan by leading the enemies to the princess and her team."

"I don't know. Trustworthy and Shadow the Hedgehog are two things that usually go into the same sentence," Sonic laughed, amusing himself with his own humor.

Shadow just let out a slight huff and pushed his way past the other hedgehog. He mumbled out a small "Whatever, hedgehog" while doing so and continued to make his way down the vent system.

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**Hiya peeps! I actually am typing an endnote again! Just so you know, I only usally type endnotes when I have something important to say or just want to make a small comment. Today, I just wanted to inform you of something. Though, I am in the middle of this story, I actually have been searching of a new story idea to write about. I was simply wondering if anyone out there had any ideas on what my next story should be about! Don't worry, I am going to finish Saving a Damaged Heart and there are going to be many more chapters for this story! I'm just wanting to type another story along with this one. The problem is, I don't have any ideas on what to write about. That's why I was wondering if any of you peeps had any ideas. I would prefer the story to be a Sonic story, but I do write Merlin and origianl stories as well! I just want a small idea that I could build off of the create another story! Oh, and by the way, for those people out there who have been reading this story and reviewing, I am seriously overwhelmed with joy from you peeps! Thank you so much for everything! I really am glad that people are enjoying this! Well, that's all I have to say! Cobalt Woof!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hiya all the peeps who decided to read this! I got another chapter up and it's a longer one too! And guess what, it actually has plot and action in it! Oh my goodness, this is a rare happening for me! I actually typed a chapter that's actually has plot and is long too! Anyways, I'm still searching for other ideas to write about for other stories. If anyone has a good story idea, let me know! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Cobalt Woof!**

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Perhaps Fiona Fox doubted what emotions could empower someone to do.

Just a day or so ago, she had sworn to herself that she would never enter a forest again due to her terrible experience of the last time she entered one. Yet, here she was. Pushing her way through the great forest maze that was blocking her path to the Mesia Mountains and the Freedom Fighters base.

Emotions were the exact thing that encouraged her to revisit the forest. Her longing to see Shadow the Hedgehog is what brought her to face her hatred of nature and enter the forest. Though Fiona did not understand on why she felt so strongly about seeing Shadow, she assumed that it was due to the fact that he gave her food and a place to sleep. It made sense that she would want to see the person who gives her what she needs to live. Besides, she wasn't quite ready to move out of his house yet, so she needed to make sure that he wasn't still mad at her from earlier.

_"I just wanted to make sure you knew that it was all the bratty and rude individuals like you out there that caused me to want to live the way I do. Alone and far away from everyone."_

Those words continued to float around in the vixen's mind. She thought she had shrugged the comment off, but it kept coming back to her. And every time the comment came back to her and little sting of pain came with it. It bugged her to no end that Shadow had said this to her. Fiona didn't know if it was because the words annoyed her or if they had hurt her feelings.

"Hurt my feelings," Fiona chuckled. "Hurt my feelings? I'm not six-years-old anymore! I doubt a few mean words could make me huddle in a corner and cry!"

The female nodded her head, agreeing with her own statement. She knew that Shadow's words wouldn't actually be able to hurt her! She was an independent, strong, fearless fox. Nothing could get her down. Especially not some smart-mouthed hedgehog like Shadow.

But, if that were the case. Then why did she want the black hedgehog so badly right now? The thought of Fiona depending on another person once again made her shiver. She had been hurt to many times. She lost all interest in friendship and fairness. So, there was no way that she actually wanted to be _friends_ with that blasted rodent, and she didn't wasn't to be fair with him either. The only thing Fiona believed in anymore was love.

BUT OF COURSE SHE WOULD NEVER DREAM OF LOVING THAT FOREVER ALONE LOSER!

The vixen nearly had a heart-attack the millisecond the dreadful thought came to her. It almost made her want to ram her head into a tree just to knock some sense into her.

Her….. loving…. Shadow?

How horrible. How unexplainable disgusting. How unrealistic. The guy was definitely not the one for her.

Sure, the brown-furred fox had to admit that Shadow did have the looks. Fiona always found hedgehog's cute, which is one of the things she found attractive in Sonic and Scourge. Just the male hedgehog's natural build-up was striking in Fiona's eyes. Shadow was no exception to this, of course. He had those shiny ruby eyes that could glare into anyone's soul. His little crimson spheres where actually quite captivating. Then he had his sly black fur, which wasn't shaggy but wasn't stubby either. Then there was that be patch of white fluff upon his chest, which just gave the dark hedgehog a hint of cuteness. So, yeah, Shadow had the appearance that Fiona liked, but she was looking for more in her man than just a pretty face.

Even though Fiona's never truly been in a "successful" relationship, she does know what she's looking for in a man. She knows that she wants a bad boy. After dating Scourge, she realized that. The thought of having a fearless and tough kind of guy that isn't afraid to take some action-packed risk is quite appealing to the female fox. She didn't want a cuddly, lovey-dovey, mamma's boy who wasn't able to put one foot in front of the other without being told to. To Fiona, that was the definition of a sad, little child, not a man. And Fiona definitely wanted to be dating a man, not a child. The problem with Scourge, however, is that he crossed the line from being a bad boy to being a flat-out pigheaded jerk. Bad boys might be what the vixen is after, but she still wanted her man to be proud of her and never hesitate to stick-up for her is she gets into a sticky situation.

That's what Shadow lacked. He had the outside appearance, but he wasn't quite a bad boy. The hedgehog seemed to be too emotional. From what Fiona knew about him, he had lost someone that was close to him and it turned him into an emotional wreck. Due to the fact that Fiona hadn't truly learned about Shadow's past, she wasn't quite sure on all that happened to him. Though, it seemed to have broken him beyond repair. That's what she didn't like about him. He was too gloomy all the time, he was also so serious and sad, and that's just not attractive in anyway. Perhaps if he got a better bad boy act and he dropped his emotional state, he would stand a chance of being Fiona's man, but that was highly unlikely to happen.

Basically, Fiona didn't love Shadow, and they weren't going to be a couple. Period. End of story. No prequel or sequel to be released.

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Shadow continued to crawl his way through the vent system. He was nearly to the exact point he needed to be so he could start the mission.

Sally and her team where probably to the generator room by now, so Shadow was going to have to hurry up and keep the enemies away from them.

The mission was simple enough. All the dark hedgehog had to do was attack the machinery around the base and cause a big commotion while Sonic did the same thing on the other side of the factory. The two hedgehogs would draw all the attention towards themselves, keeping all the guards away from the control room where Sally and her team would be disabling the whole factory. Once they were finished with their tinkering, the whole group just had to bust out of the place and watch it fall apart.

So simple, yet so much room for errors.

Soon enough, Shadow was directly above one of the factory work rooms. Looking down, he could see all the hard-working people. Dogs, cats, bears, lions, and hundreds of other Mobians were wandering around aimlessly below him. They were packed together so closely, that it was hard to tell the difference between one person to the next. It looked as if everyone was just a giant mass of color moving in all sorts of directions.

From Shadow's location in the vents, it was impossible for him to see the objects they were working on. Recalling from what Sally explained to Shadow earlier, he assumed that they were constructing the weapons that were planned on being shipped out to villains across all over Mobius, maybe even sending several weapons to other zones.

Snapping out of his thoughts, the male realized that he probably should get to his job. Sonic was probably already causing a mess on the other side of the factory, so it was about time that he did the same.

Slowly slipping the vent system open, Shadow eased his way near the edge of his newly-made whole. He hunched his back and got his legs into a leaping position. He prepared to launch himself down the whole and into the center of the whole work room. Before jumping, though, Shadow pulled out his Chaos Emerald from his spines. Judging on how many people there were, he was probably going to have to let lose a few Chaos Spears or perhaps even Chaos Control to another location.

With a forceful push of his legs, the black creature was sent shooting down towards the mob of people below him. Before any of them had time to react, he had already landed upon one of the work table, nearly crushing it in the process. Swiftly, he launched himself into the air once again and rolled himself into a sphere. Using a powerful spin-dash, Shadow had successfully destroyed a nearby work station.

As soon as they comprehended what was happening, all the hundreds of people in the work room began to either runaway or charge the intruder in hope of stopping him. None of them had any luck, however, since Shadow just used his amazing speed to zoom away from anyone who dared to approach him or he would plainly deliver kicks and punches to send them whimpering away.

With ease, the power-packed invader had nearly crashed every work station that could be found within the room. People were lying on the ground in pain from the hedgehog's attacks or they had fled to another part of the factory.

Knowing that his work here was done, Shadow darted out of the room and found himself in a huge hallway with doors located every ten feet. Giving an amused grin, the red-eyed loner zipped down the hallway, making sure to spin-dash several of the doors, just to give people on the other side a fright.

In the middle of his fun, however, the guards came to finish him off. These guards weren't anything too special, they were just some of the same Mobians working in the work rooms except that they had suits on and carried around varies weapons. They were easy enough for Shadow to defeat, all he had to do was knock their weapon out of their hand and then deliver a mighty punch or kick. That usually sent the guards running, or it sometimes knocked them down to the ground. Either way, they weren't much of a threat to Shadow.

Even though it was an easy task to defeat the guards, the hedgehog still had to focus on his mission of keeping the princess and the other Freedom Fighters safe. He quickly took off down the hallway, leaving the injured guards behind. He had to find a way to be more destructive so that more of those weak guards would come after him instead of the others.

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Fiona was hurriedly making her way through the maze of green and brown. She had to get through this forest fast if she wanted to see Shadow anytime soon.

The girl was making her way around the trees, quickly sprinting left than right to avoid the endless amount of branched and other obstacles that lay in her way. As she progressed deeper into the world of trees, the trees began to get closer and closer together. Like a blast from the past, Fiona was forced to squeeze her way through trees as she had to do before. And just like before, she began to hate these trees with all her heart.

"This is why I vowed never to step foot inside a forest again!" Fiona shouted as she continued to squirm past the large trunks of the forest.

As she was making her way around another tree, Fiona felt her foot hit something. It caused her to trip and let out a loud yelp in surprise. Face down in the dirt, the vixen let out a vicious growl, despising whatever made her trip more than she despised the trees around her.

Regaining her footing, Fiona jumped upwards and turned to look at the tripper. To her surprise, it was a mere little Chao.

The poor little creature was resting behind the tree when Fiona had stepped on it. This, of course, caused the Chao to awaken. Now that it was awake, it was giving the female a glare similar to the one that she was giving it.

"Chao!" The little blue creature roared. "Chao! Chao!"

"What on Mobius?!" Fiona questioned loudly. "You stupid little Chao! Why were you sleeping behind that stupid tree! You completely tripped me up!"

The Chao didn't seem to comprehend what the vixen was saying, and Fiona wasn't really expecting it to. It was only a baby Chao, it probably didn't understand English.

"What am I doing?" Fiona asked herself with a sigh. "Am I really talking to a Chao? How pathetic of me… I should really get back to searching for Shadow."

Fiona released another sigh and began to continue on her way to finding Shadow. Though she didn't make it very far before she heard a faint call from behind her.

"Chao!"

Turning around, the vixen saw the little blue fellow was following her. Letting out yet another sigh, Fiona motioned her hand in a way to shoo off the Chao.

"Get lost, bubby," she demanded. "I'm on a mission here and I don't have time for last-minute teammates."

"Chao!" The creature replied in protest and it moved closer to Fiona. Once it got into reach of the fox, it latched onto her leg and curled itself around it.

"Oh great," Fiona said sarcastically. "I also wanted a little fur ball to grab on my leg and bug me to death. This is a dream come true."

Rolling her eyes, the vixen began to move on. As she walked, the Chao remained to stick to her leg.

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**END NOTE! Okay, peeps, I actually have something really important to say. I am putting this story on hold. Don't worry, I will update more chapters and I will finish this story eventually. But, for now, this story is on hold and I won't update chapters for a while. How long will it be until I update a chapter? Probably not too long. Just a couple days. I just have a lot going on right now and I need to put some things to the side and take a breather. I'm sorry to anyone who is reading this story. I will pick it up and update chapters later, but until then... Peace Out! Cobalt Woof!**


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